


Listen Up, Achievement Hunters!

by SuitChic



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Deaf Character, Gen, Original Character(s), the boys are silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-25
Updated: 2015-03-30
Packaged: 2018-03-19 14:55:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3614109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuitChic/pseuds/SuitChic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a new graphic designer starts working with Jon at the Rooster Teeth offices, Geoff sets out to once again show Jon that he prefers most other human beings over him - even total strangers.  Unfortunately for the Gent, the new woman isn't playing along - at all - and none of the other Achievement Hunters fare much better!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys! This isn't my first foray into fanfiction, but it is my first attempt at some Rooster Teeth writing! Hopefully you'll give this a chance even though it does have an OC - I promise that the OC won't be spontaneously falling in love with anyone (and no one will be spontaneously falling in love with her either) and I sincerely hope that she isn't a Mary Sue. Please let me know in the comments if you'd like to see more with this character, or if you have any prompts for me, I'd love to hear them. 
> 
> Cheers, loves!

"Geoff!"   
  
The eldest Achievement Hunter huffed a sigh at the familiar squawk coming from just beyond the doorway.   
  
"What?  Some of us are busy, you idiot."  
  
"Jon's got a new friend!"  Gavin grinned, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he watched Geoff's expression change from irritation to mild interest.    
  
"Another graphic designer?"  
  
"Yeah!  Barbara says she just started today and she's working with Jon on some new merch."  
  
Geoff got to his feet, heaved another long and loud breath, and met Gavin in the middle of the otherwise empty office.  "You know what this means, don't you?"  
  
For the barest of seconds, Plan G wore equally sinister smiles.    
  
"Time to enlist the new bird in our war against the Risemonger!"   


* * *

  
"So you've worked with this software before, haven't you, Elisabeth?"   
  
Geoff watched from his very secretive position behind a potted plant as the young woman sat beside Jon at his desk nodded and offered a soft hum of agreement.    
  
"Great - since you're just starting out here and I don't want you to think we've just hired you as someone to offload work onto, I thought it'd be good to do some work together to start us off.  Is that okay with you?  If you want, I can just give you your own project to get on with."   
  
Another shake of her ginger head and the new girl ( _Elisabeth,_ Geoff corrected himself internally) grinned at Jon as he started off explaining what his vision for a new t-shirt would look like in reality.   
  
Just when Jon seemed to be getting comfortable, Geoff took the opportunity to saunter up to the pair until he was situated directly behind her chair.   
  
"I hope the Douchemonger isn't boring you to death, new girl!"  The slight downward twist of Jon's lips as he stopped mid-sentence only served to encourage Geoff, who turned to look at Elisabeth for a reaction.   
  
The grandiosely moustached man frowned when all he saw was Elisabeth looking at Jon with a little bit of confusion.   
  
"Geoff, Elisabeth is --"  
  
"Yeah, yeah, the new designer, blah blah.  Be quiet, asshole.  Hey, Elisabeth!  D'you wanna come back to the Achievement Hunter office with me?  It'll be more fun than whatever this moron's getting you to do..."  Geoff trailed off into uncharacteristic silence when Elisabeth started clicking the mouse and rearranging some screens on the monitor in front of her.  She hadn't even  _acknowledged_ him yet.  "Oh, very funny, Jon!  Already turning the newbies against us - fucking hilarious! We'll see how long that lasts when she figures out you can't smell shit - literally!"    
  
With an exaggerated huff and a toddler-like flap of his arms, Geoff turned and stomped back to the Achievement Hunter office.    
  
"Geoff, she's... Never mind."  Jon sighed and turned his attention back to his newest co-worker.  "Right - about this t-shirt..."  


* * *

  
Geoff was sulking.  Gavin could tell that much just by looking at the back of the man's head and the stubborn set of his shoulders.    
  
"Why are you all mingy, Geoff?" the Brit enquired cheerfully as he returned his attention to the Let's Play he was editing.   
  
"I'm not  _mingy_."  
  
"You sure  _sound_ like you're full of vinegar," Michael added, shucking his headphones down to settle across the back of his neck.  "I can hear you mashing your keyboard all the way over here, and I'm listening to Gavin screech on full volume for this Rage Quit."   
  
"Yeah, Geoff!  Tell us what's wrong!" Gavin keened, nudging his chair into a slow circle so that he could focus fully on the grumpy gamer across the room.   
  
"I went to recruit Elisabeth - the new girl working with Jon," he hastened to add at Michael's confused expression. "He's already got her acting like I don't even exist!"  
  
"What?  Like, she didn't speak to you?"  
  
"Speak to me!" Geoff crowed, voice cracking incredulously.  "She didn't even  _look_ at me."   
  
"That's a bit naff," Gavin nodded.  "Did you say something bad?"  
  
"No.  Well, I called Risinger the 'douchemonger' - yeah, I thought that was funny too!" Geoff grinned as Michael and Gavin both suppressed giggles.  "And I guess I called him an asshole, but that's normal.  She just carried on with what she was doing; she only looked at her monitor and Jon the entire time."   
  
"Maybe she's just shy," Michael suggested.  "New job, new people.  Kinda scary for some people, y'know?"  
  
The grim look on Geoff's face insinuated that he felt otherwise.    
  
"I'm gonna go talk her 'round," Gavin announced, untangling himself from his headphones and hip-checking his chair out of the way.  "Watch this!"  
  
"She's definitely not gonna like you if she doesn't like Geoff," the New Jersey man scoffed, only to roll his eyes as Gavin ignored him and went out into the hallway.   
  
In a stroke of luck, Elisabeth was walking towards the excitable Englishman just as he made it a few steps out of the office, her head down as she read over what appeared to be handwritten notes.  
  
"Oi, lady!  I'm Gavin, it's a pleasure - it's a..."  As if mirroring Geoff's encounter with the newbie, Gavin trailed off as Elisabeth walked right past him.  "Eh?  Hello!"   
  
Gavin gaped at the short woman as she strolled leisurely away.  He jumped as a hand clapped heavily onto his shoulder.   
  
"Sorry, boi.  I guess she doesn't like you either," Michael said, attempting to sound sympathetic as his voice warbled with subdued snickers.   
  
"Bugger," was Gavin's succinct reply. 

* * *

  
"Oh, hey there!"  Jack smiled cheerfully at the stranger carefully fishing a teabag out of a mug at the counter.  He placed his mug beside the readheaded woman's and went about pouring himself some coffee.  "I'm Jack.  I work with the Achievement Hunters."  
  
He turned back to find the woman staring, confused, at his mouth.  Jack's grin faltered.    
  
"Uh... Hello!"  
  
The girl's confusion dissipated instantly and he received an animated wave accompanied by a wide smile in reply before she went back to her steaming tea.  Jack moved away to replace the coffee pot and continued the rather one-sided conversation he was having.   
  
"So I haven't seen you around before, are you new?"  Coffee mug in hand, Jack turned back to find that he was alone in the kitchen.  "Okay, bye. Good talk!" 

* * *

  
"TEAM BETTER FRIENDS ACTION VINES, WOOOO!"  Ray hollered, running behind Michael with his cell phone waving in front of him.   
  
"JOEL, YOU SUCK!" Michael yelled as he jogged past the scowling actor.   
  
"I liked the Five Nights video with Adam!" the Puerto Rican offered apologetically as he followed his fellow Achievement Hunter into a different section of the building.  " _Oof_."    
  
Winded, Ray paused the recording for their Vine and rubbed at his ribs as Michael regained his balance.    
  
"Dumbass, you almost knocked me over!" Michael growled.    
  
"Why'd you stop in the middle of the room?  I almost went up your ass!"    
  
"Shhhhh," Michael hushed, violently waving his hands.  "We're gonna sneak up on the new girl.  Look, Jon's left her alone."  
  
Ray grinned as he held up his phone.  "The weakest members of the pack are left behind as prey for the predators," he nodded.   
  
"What?  Don't be fuckin' weird, we're not gonna - never mind. Stay here..."  With one last (impatient) 'stay put' gesture, Michael began a very theatrical attempt at sneaking up on the woman happily adjusting an image on her monitor.    
  
"Five, four, three, two..." Ray counted down in a soft, utterly atrocious English accent.   
  
" **AAAAARRGHHHHHH**!" Michael screamed, barely inches away from his quarry.    
  
A few seconds of silence passed, and the Vine ended on a mixture of Ray's disappointed ' _awww_ ' and Michael's frustrated 'what the fuck?!'   
  


* * *

  
"I'm gonna speak to Burnie about getting some training set up for a few more employees - I don't think it's fair that you can only interact fluently with a few of us.  I'll meet you out in the parking lot and we can go out for lunch to celebrate your first week, okay?"  
  
Elisabeth nodded, smile proud as she crossed her arms over her chest and gestured at the desk space she and Jon had been sharing.    
  
"I've loved it too - it's been awesome!  I'll be out in five minutes, I promise!"   
  
The redhead watched as Jon left and, after she had gathered her purse and her cell phone, began the short walk out to her car.  It'd be fair if she drove this time; Jon had driven last time, after all!  
  
She had just turned the corner when she bumped into a much taller, broader body.  With a breathy squeak, she flailed as she tried to keep her balance.  Two strong hands curled around her biceps and held her upright.     
  
With a shaky smile, she straightened up and lifted her head to thank her unwitting saviour...   
  
"I'm sorry - did I hurt you?"   
  
Only to come face to face with a dark skull mask and cold blue eyes surrounded by black face paint.  Wrenching herself out of the man's grasp, Elisabeth huffed out a warbling screech and ran in the opposite direction, intent on hiding beneath Jon's desk until the older man could escort her safely out of the building.   
  
Jaw slack with confusion, Ryan nudged his mask up over his forehead and looked around to see if anyone else had witnessed the woman's strange behaviour.  Finding no one else to offer an explanation, the geeky tech master muttered to himself as he headed back to the Achievement Hunter office to let them know he was finished with his part of their Fake AH Crew photoshoot.   
  


* * *

  
"And she just ran away?"  
  
"Yeah, she just made this weird, confused noise and ran back around the corner!" Ryan reiterated, a baby wipe stained with paint in his hand.  "She's seen me before.  I mean, I haven't spoken with her, but we've passed by one another."  
  
"I think this just proves that you are a creepy mother-fucker," Geoff laughed as he lounged back in his desk chair.    
  
"She walked away from me in the kitchen yesterday.  Looked at me like I was a giant fish on legs and then smiled," Jack said over his shoulder, hands on a controller in front of him.  "Then when I looked back after I got my coffee, she was gone."   
  
"She didn't even acknowledge me or Geoff.  I looked like a right mong just standing in the corridor speaking at her," Gavin pouted.   
  
"She didn't even flinch when Michael screamed at her," Ray reminded the group, "and we weren't exactly being quiet before that.  There was just no response."  
  
"I think she's a robot," Gavin whispered, as if he believed Elisabeth could hear him from wherever it was she had made her daring escape to.    
  
"Shut up, you idiot," Michael reprimanded the Brit.    
  
"You're all idiots."  
  
All six of the Achievement Hunters jumped in their seats and turned towards the door, where Jon was standing with a grin on his face and a USB stick in his hand.    
  
"You what?" Gavin retorted, voice high with perceived insult.   
  
"She's  _deaf,_ " Jon said, rolling his eyes.  "I tried to tell Geoff, but he didn't listen, and I bet the rest of you assholes didn't notice that the only reason she wasn't replying to you was because she couldn't  _see_ you talking.  Elisabeth's completely deaf; she lip-reads."  
  
The looks of realisation that crossed the gamers' faces made Jon wish he'd had the forethought to video this interaction.    
  
"So when I was speaking to her..." Geoff started slowly.   
  
"She didn't even see you.  She was too busy looking at me or the computer," Jon nodded.   
  
"And when I tried chattin' her up in the hall, she was reading something or other, so she wouldn't have noticed me."  
  
"Same goes for us," Ray shrugged.  "Elisabeth was looking at her monitor when we tried to scare her."  
  
"When I was getting coffee, I wasn't facing her," Jack muttered, tone slightly awed. "That explains so much!  When I looked at her and spoke, she smiled and waved!  Before that, she must've realised I'd said something but she didn't know what!"   
  
"Ryan, you dropped this when you scared the shit out of her five minutes ago," Jon chimed in, words tinged with amusement as he offered Ryan the USB stick.  "She told me what happened and I guessed it was you."  
  
"Told you?"  Geoff repeated, eyes narrowed in suspicion.  "How'd she do that?"  
  
"A mixture of sign language and words.  Elisabeth can speak, but she can't hear herself so I guess she's a little self-conscious around new people.  I can get the general gist of what she's saying from the sign language and the rest she makes up for with speech."    
  
"Why'd she run away from me?"  Ryan asked mournfully, standing to retrieve his USB.  "I only bumped into her and asked if she was okay."  
  
"She said you were wearing your mask... so she wouldn't have been able to read your lips.  All Elisabeth saw was a tall guy in a scary mask and he was holding her up.  You have to admit you're a bit creepy sometimes, Ryan."  
  
"Told ya!" Geoff cheered.   
  
"I guess we've been right bloody anuses then, haven't we?"  
  
"Should get that checked out by a doctor," Ray murmured.  
  
"Good one," Michael grinned, offering the bespectacled man beside him a high-five.   
  
"We'll make it up to her," Jack promised.  "Now that we know she's deaf, we'll all make it up to her."  
  
"I'm taking her out to lunch now to celebrate surviving her first week here, so you've got the weekend to come up with something nice - and no, Gavin, please don't try to teach her any of your stupid made-up words," Jon interjected before the Brit could even make a sound.   
  
"My words are top!"   
  
"You'll just confuse her," Ryan agreed.  "We'll arrange something over the weekend and apologise on Monday."  
  
"How do you _say_ sorry to a deaf person?"    
  
"Oh my God, Gavin,  _shut up_." 


	2. Pardon You, Achievement Hunters!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It's a daffodil!" Geoff blustered, careful to face the redhead so that she could read his lips. "An apology."
> 
> The Lads and Gents make a second attempt at first impressions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm afraid that my knowledge lies solely in British Sign Language, as I'm from Scotland. I apologise if any of the signs don't mesh with ASL, but I felt that the story might flow better if I wrote about what I know in that regard instead of trying to write about signs that I'm not 100% on. 
> 
> Other than that, please enjoy! I'd really appreciate any comments or critique - cheers, loves!

"Elisabeth?"  
  
Geoff was glad that no one else was in the small office space that Elisabeth and Jon shared so early in the morning, because the embarrassed expression on his face as he tried to delicately capture the deaf woman's attention would've ruined him for at least a week. Slowly, in an attempt not to startle her, he sat down beside her in Jon's desk chair and offered her the bright yellow daffodil he held in his hand.  
  
Dull blue eyes glanced up at the intrusion and, with a quirk of glossed lips, Elisabeth accepted the flower. Laughing breathily, the designer brought the bloom to her nose and inhaled shallowly.  
  
"It's a daffodil!" Geoff blustered, careful to face the redhead so that she could read his lips. "An apology. I tried to speak to you last week and I didn't give Jon a chance to tell me that you're... you know. Sorry. No - uh, wait! I learned this, look!"  
  
Perhaps slower than he should've been to adequately perform the sign, Geoff carefully traced out the word 'sorry' with a circle on his chest.  
  
The beaming smile he received in response was well worth the difficulty of finding a daffodil at five-thirty in the morning, Geoff decided.  
  


* * *

  
Halfway through lunch, Elisabeth was people-watching again. It was a fun pastime, she had discovered, when your co-workers tended towards the crazier of lunchtime activities. Miles and Kerry were up to something - that much was clear just from the not so subtle look of pure deviousness that rested on Miles' face - but she couldn't say what that something was for certain, only that it involved two wooden spoons and a spork. Jon was entertaining a passing Burnie with a retelling of how dumb the Achievement Hunters were when it came to meeting new people, and...  
  
Well, the big-nosed Achievement Hunter in front of her was attempting to read.  
  
Intrigued, she gently tapped the corner of his book and offered an enquiring lift of a dark eyebrow.  
  
He smiled, seemingly happy just to have been noticed, and lifted up the textbook to show off the cover.  
  
The strangled giggle that squeaked from her throat had Jon and Burnie both turning to survey the scene with interest. All she could offer in explanation was a wagging finger in Gavin's direction.  
  
"Hi," Gavin said slowly - though, thankfully, it was because he was trying to concentrate as he signed and not out of sheer ignorance. "Name... me - G A V I N. How are you?"  
  
Smile almost as wide as her face, Elisabeth slowly signed back to him and mouthed the related words as she did so.  
  
"Why don't I feel comfortable knowing that he might soon be able to communicate silently?" Burnie stage-whispered to Jon, who shook his head with amusement.  
  
"I think you should be more worried about what those two will get up to together," he replied gently as Elisabeth shuffled her seat closer to the Brit and began demonstrating the signs he pointed out to her in the book. "I think the Achievement Hunters have found a new project."  
  


* * *

  
When Elisabeth returned to her office, a few minutes earlier than Jon (who had been pulled away by Burnie to discuss God only knows what now that he had the knowledge Gavin was actually learning something), she found yet another Achievement Hunter in her midst.  
  
Jack, looking sheepish despite his broad shoulders and impressive beard, was stood awkwardly at her desk and offered a nervous smile as she approached.  
  
Tilting her head in question, the designer waved hello and waited patiently for the red-cheeked man to offer an explanation.  
  
"Uh... Well... When I met you in the kitchen last week, I was stupid and I didn't know that you couldn't tell what I was saying if you couldn't see me... And I guess we were all really dumb because none of us figured it out, so I thought I'd get you a little present as an apology!" Jack faltered slightly at the incredulous expression that crossed Elisabeth's face. "No, it's okay! I mean it, I was stupid. I wanted to get you something, so... You were drinking tea the other day, and..."  
  
In lieu of words (and really, Elisabeth didn't need to see them), Jack held out the small, ribbon-wrapped piece of china in his hand.  
  
With inquisitive fingers, Elisabeth found herself holding a small teapot sitting perfectly atop a china teacup.  
  
"Thank you!" she said, voice a little slow and rough, but otherwise comprehensible. "I love it!"  
  
The smile on Jack's face, Elisabeth reflected later as she poured herself a cup of tea from her own personal teapot, was well worth the embarrassment of talking out loud.   
  


* * *

  
"Okay, so I was a fucking _moron_ and I'm dumb and stuff."  
  
Elisabeth blinked quickly as Michael appeared in front of her as she exited the bathroom. He was standing very straight, shoulders hunched slightly, and his chin was tilted downwards. To Elisabeth, he looked much like a child who expected to be scolded.  
  
Glancing up from the floor, Michael caught the confused look Elisabeth gave him and continued with his gruff apology.  
  
"I tried to scare you and you didn't even notice me. So, I'm sorry for trying to scare you and I promise that next time we try to prank you, it'll be deaf-accessible."  
  
Elisabeth glanced up the corridor to double-check that no one was around to witness Michael's abrupt words and, with a breath of laughter, patted him gently on the head.  
  
"Hey!" The New Jersey man protested, shaking his head away from her long fingers. "I'm not a dog!"  
  
The woman only offered another stuttering laugh in response as she ran down the corridor to escape the curly-haired man's out-stretched hands.   
  
If she accidentally started a tickle chase that distracted Michael, Gavin and Jon from work for half an hour, well... _she_ didn't mind - and judging by the bright red faces and red-splotched faces of the boys, neither did they.  
  


* * *

  
The next day was proving to be a good one, Elisabeth had decided within thirty seconds of reaching her desk.  
  
Pinned haphazardly to the foot-tall cubicle wall were a dozen pictures which, at first glance, just seemed to be random fan-art for the Achievement Hunters. Closer inspection, however, proved this initial thought to be incorrect.  
  
Or, rather, _inaccurate_ \- because it _was_ fan-art from the Achievement Hunters... but she was there too.  
  
Whether it was in the background, sat at a desk with her hands up to sign, or right in the middle of the action with the boys with a pickaxe, a pistol or paintbrush, Elisabeth was there.  
  
She gasped softly at a beautiful, realistic interpretation of herself swathed in medieval garb and with a crown perched atop her head.  
  
On a sticky note tacked to the corner of the Achievement Hunter royalty AU picture, the man responsible had left a message.  
  
_'I didn't want to give you this picture in case you got Mad Queen ideas, but my Tumblr peeps and I thought your desk looked bare in that picture you and Jon posted (you posers) - YOLO, right?'_  
  
Stuck between laughing and crying with happiness, the watery warble Elisabeth finally settled on was enough to prompt Jon into moving from his position against the door jamb to go and inform Ray that his gesture was more than appreciated with a smile of his own.  
  


* * *

  
"Elisabeth?" Jon tapped her gently on the shoulder to gather the still-grinning woman's attention from her cell phone (she was currently messaging her mother, who was over the moon to find that her daughter had found somewhere so accepting to work). The entire morning, after mopping up the few cheerful tears that had escaped the clutches of her eyelashes earlier, she had been on cloud nine, lips constantly pulled back with joy. "I've got a surprise for you!"  
  
"Surprise?" she repeated, brows furrowing. "Again?"  
  
"There are six Achievement Hunters, Elisabeth," was Jon's wry reply as he took her hand and led her from the lunch table they had been sharing. "You trust me, right?" At her confident nod, he gestured to her face. "Close your eyes. We're just going to our office, I promise."  
  
Certain that Jon wasn't going to lead her astray, Elisabeth lowered her lids over her murky blue eyes and hummed uncertainly as she took careful steps.  
  
Soon, they came to a stop and Jon tapped her twice on her left shoulder.  
  
Six Achievement Hunters stared back at her, all smiles as she opened her eyes and took in the changes to her desk. On the side of her monitor was a small device that she couldn't quite fathom the use of. A pretty watch was sitting in a decorative box beside her mouse, along with what looked similar to an old-fashioned pager, though it was much sleeker and seemingly modernised.  
  
"So Ryan spoke to Burnie," Gavin said after waving a hand to pull her eyes to him. "And he got you some gadgets!"  
  
With a hangdog expression, Ryan shrugged as if embarrassed by the credit.  
  
"What does it do?" she asked slowly (and it wouldn't ever stop thrilling her to see some new smile at the sound of her voice).  
  
"Well," the techy man began as he manoeuvred around the desk chair in front of him to point at the monitor unit, though he was conscientious of the fact that he had to keep facing Elisabeth. "This here is like a doorbell. There's a button on the door jamb at the door to this office space, so when someone is coming in they just need to touch the button and a green light will flash here. That way you won't end up accidentally ignoring someone, or being surprised when a randomer just walks in. And this," he continued, offering a small smile at the woman's awestruck expression, "is a vibrating watch. It links up to your e-calendar so you can set up reminders for meetings and stuff, and instead of beeping, it'll buzz. It has two batteries that charge via USB, so when one starts to run low you just switch it out for the other one. This little gizmo is an alarm pager. I talked to Burnie and we both decided that it was in your best interests to carry this - it's set up so that if the fire alarm or security alarm goes off, you'll be notified by a vibration and this screen will tell you where the alarm is --"  
  
The Georgian was cut off when two trembling arms were suddenly wrapped around his shoulders in a tight embrace.  
  
"Thank you, thank you, _thank you_ ," Elisabeth chattered, touching a hand quickly to her chin out of reflex. "It's too much!"  
  
With one quick glance at one another, all of the Achievement Hunters (and a widely grinning Jon) agreed that it wasn't ever going to be enough if just these few small acts of kindness had Elisabeth acting as if they'd bought her the world. And with that thought, all of the men decided it was time someone started to try and do just that. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> If you'd like to see the Achievement Hunters' apology to Elisabeth, or anything else from me at all, please let me know! I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
